An indefinite pronoun does not refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea.Indefinite pronouns often do not have antecedents.

Indefinite pronouns can be singular, plural, or singular or plural.

Indefinite Pronouns

Use a singular pronoun to refer to a singular indefinite pronoun. Use his or herwhen the antecedent could be either masculine or feminine.

Everyone brought his or her special dish to the picnic.

Use a plural personal pronoun to refer to a plural indefinite pronoun.

Several of the students brought their baseball mitts. (plural)

Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural. Often, the phrase that followsthe indefinite pronoun tells you whether the indefinite pronoun is singular or plural.

All of the food was still in its basket. (Food is singular.)

All of the students made their own sandwiches. (Students is plural.)

Using Indefinite PronounsIn each sentence, underline the correct pronoun. Also underline its antecedent.

EXAMPLE All of the teachers will have (his or her, their) pictures taken now.

1. All of the students in the class enjoyed (his or her, their) time away from school.2. Everybody brought (his or her, their) backpack with dry socks and shoes.3. None of the students wanted to miss (his or her, their) walk to the lake.4. Neither of the teachers on the picnic wanted (their, his or her) students to go

home with wet feet.5. Some of the students said that they knew (his or her, their) way to the lake.6. Both of the teachers were happy with (her, their) classes’ behavior.7. No one soaked (his or her, their) clothes in the lake.8. Some of the lake pollution was down from (its, their) all-time high.9. On the way back, everyone quickened (his or her, their) pace.

10. Each of the students wanted to save (his or her, their) place at the picnic tables.11. Few in the group could resist (his or her, their) love for outdoor cooking.12. Not surprisingly, all of the birds in the park wanted (its, their) fair share of the

food too.

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GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS BOOK 67

Lesson8 Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement Teaching

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Singular Plural Singular or Pluralanother each everything one both all noneanybody either neither somebody few any someanyone everybody nobody someone many mostanything everyone no one something several

A. Identifying Indefinite PronounsUnderline the indefinite pronoun in each sentence. Then underline the correctpronoun in parentheses.

1. Before the math test, anyone can look at (his or her, their) book.2. All of the girls were at (her, their) best in the last swim meet.3. Both of the boys inherited (his, their) mother’s red hair.4. Sooner or later everyone must make (his or her, their) own decisions.5. At the trial, each of the witnesses told (his or her, their) story.6. Some of the students brought (his or her, their) own lunches.7. Will anybody donate (his or her, their) time to the neighborhood cleanup?8. Few in our class have reached (his or her, their) full height.9. After lunch, everyone went (his or her, their) own way.

10. All of the speakers gave (his or her, their) talks in less than one hour.11. Each of the cars had (its, their) headlights dimmed in the thick fog.12. None of the perfume leaked out of (its, their) bottle.

B. Using Pronouns CorrectlyIn each sentence below, decide whether the pronouns agree with their antecedents.If the sentence is correct, write Correct on the line. If it contains a pronoun that doesnot agree with its antecedent, rewrite the sentence correctly on the line.

1. Everybody was ready for their meal by about six o’clock.

__________________________________________________________________________________________2. Some of the boys were still playing their ball game.

__________________________________________________________________________________________3. Linda labeled each of the dishes with their name so everyone knew what it was.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________4. Have any of the containers lost their lids?

__________________________________________________________________________________________5. Nobody wanted their feast to end.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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68 GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS BOOK

Lesson8 Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement More Practice

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A. Proofreading for Indefinite-Pronoun AgreementProofread the following paragraph. When you find a pronoun-antecedent error,cross the pronoun out. Then insert this proofreading symbol ^ and write the correctpronoun or pronouns above it. If necessary, mark any verb that must agree withthe changed pronoun to be changed.

Everybody likes a picnic. But, when somebody planned the picnic I just

came back from, they made a few mistakes. First, everybody brought their

own dish to share, but everybody brought watermelon. There was

watermelon everywhere. Luckily, many of the picnickers had also packed his

or her cars with soft drinks and snacks. One of the members of one family

had brought enough hamburger for her family, but not for everyone. So after a

hearty meal of soft drinks, chips, and watermelon, many of the picnickers

decided he or she would take a hike through the woods. Nobody had put any

insect repellent in their backpacks, however, and the mosquitoes had the best

picnic of all on the hikers’ skin. When the hikers returned, they couldn’t find

any of the game equipment, so they had nothing to play with. Most of the

people headed back to his or her cars at that point. Anyone who plans next

year’s picnic should make their preparations a little more carefully.

B. Using Indefinite Pronouns in WritingWrite a paragraph about a picnic you have attended. You may write about who wasthere and what you did and ate. Use at least four indefinite pronouns. Be sure thatany personal pronouns agree with their indefinite-pronoun antecedents in number.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

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GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS BOOK 69

Lesson8 Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement Application

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